Levi Kitchen currently holds a seven-point lead over Cole Davies in the 250 Class. When they last raced, Davies was resoundingly dominant, going 1-1 at Washougal compared to Kitchen’s 6-6 for fifth. Kitchen’s starts have been subpar this season, which has forced him to come through the pack more times than he’d like. If he wants to have any hope of staving off Davies for this championship, he’s going to need to get out of the gate better. Julien Beaumer is still in this, but he’s 25 points back of Kitchen, which means he’ll need to be flawless and hope for some bad luck to befall Kitchen and Davies. How will this situation play out at Unadilla? -Aaron Hansel 

Hunter Lawrence is in a good spot right now—he leads Jett Lawrence by twelve points with six motos remaining. He’s had the upper hand on multiple occasions, and when he hasn’t, he’s benefited from uncharacteristic crashes by Jett. Hunter has five overall wins compared to Jett’s three, although without the crashes from Jett that ratio would be different. After Washougal Jett said the plan moving forward was to just win every remaining race, which would be good enough for the championship. But considering how overwhelmingly consistent and strong Hunter has been, Jett can’t afford to let him stretch out his lead any more. Can Hunter deal a decisive blow at Unadilla? -Hansel

Ryder DiFrancesco was on the podium for the second time this season at Washougal, where he took second overall. DiFrancesco is riding better this summer than we’ve ever seen and is really starting to look like the guy everyone thought he could be when he was tearing up the amateur ranks. Who thinks he can keep it going at Unadilla? -Hansel 

Read: Zach Osborne to Race Final Three Pro Motocross Rounds with Beta

Another 250 rider who’s been making strides is Chance Hymas. The Honda HRC Progressive rider came into the season on the heels of a shoulder injury that ended up being worse than anticipated, and at Washougal he told us he’d also been riding with the fear of getting hurt again during the first half of the season. Well, he certainly looks like he’s past that now because he was second overall (with a moto win) at Spring Creek and was third overall at Washougal. We’ll see if this trend keeps going in the right direction. -Hansel 

Washougal was fantastic for Benny Bloss and Mitchell Oldenburg. Bloss went 10-10 for the second week in a row, and Oldenburg took 15th overall, by far his best result of the season. The next closest was 19th overall. The Liqui Moly Beta team doesn’t have much experience racing AMA Pro Motocross, but judging by how things have gone lately, it seems as though they might be figuring some things out. Will they the Beta Boys keep pushing at Unadilla? -Hansel 

Things did not go well for Eli Tomac at the last two rounds coming back from injury. In the four motos he’s races since hurting his neck at the season opener, he’s gone 9-12-14-14, which is perplexing. If you think Tomac is happy with these results, despite coming back from injury, you’re crazy. You know he put in work during the break. Will it show when Pro Motocross reconvenes this weekend? -Hansel 

Justin Barcia has been looking great lately, and the best two results of his season, fifth and seventh overall, have come at the last two races. The timing couldn’t be better, either, as Unadilla is Barcia’s home race. He hasn’t been dominant at Unadilla, but a home race is still a home race. With Barcia seemingly on the rise, will his results get a bump from the hometown crowd? -Hansel

The Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship powered by Synchrony returns to action this weekend as their season has been on a break since High Point. High Point was the first race in a long time where current champion, and points leader, Lala Turner did not win. Rookie Mayla Herrick won the first moto and went down in the first turn of the second moto. Charli Cannon would go on to win the second moto and the overall. How will the second half of the season look? Will Cannon go on a streak or will Turner recover to win her third straight championship? -Sarah Whitmore

Remember you can watch today's press day riding AND the first WMX moto live on YouTube below.

Following a break in the series, the extra time off gave some riders extra time to heal. Both Aaron Plessinger who got hurt at RedBud in a first turn crash, and Justin Cooper who had a gnarly crash at Hangtown and suffered a concussion, will return for this weekend. It's a home race for J-Coop and AP has had some great rides there in the past. How will the two look this weekend after some time off? -Whitmore

Speaking of time off, the series is coming back after two much needed weekends off. Each rider spent their break differently, depending on their needs. Some like, Jett Lawrence needed the time to let his ankle/foot injury heal a little more. While others used the time to practice their craft. For example, Levi Kitchen could have used the time practicing starts six days a week. And others, like Cooper Webb spent his time racing (and winning) WSX in Canada. The formula to reach the top looks different for everyone. So, who used this time wisely? -Whitmore